Obama names Susan Rice new NSA, Samantha Power as U.N. ambassador

President Barack Obama reshuffled his national security team on Wednesday, as he moved United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice to the White House and nominated Samantha Power to take her place in New York.

“This team of people has been extraordinarily dedicated to America. They have made America safer. They have made America’s values live in corners of the world that are crying out for our support and our leadership,” Obama said in a Rose Garden ceremony. “I could not be prouder of these three individuals.”

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Obama announces Susan Rice as National Security Adviser

PHOTOS: Tom Donilon

PHOTOS: Samantha Power

Obama’s selection of Rice to succeed National Security Adviser Tom Donilon is latest in a series of defiant appointments likely to rile Republicans and fire up Democrats.

Rice had been a leading contender to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, but withdrew herself from consideration in December after Republicans sharply criticized her public statements following the Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi. Her new role does not require Senate confirmation.

“I am absolutely thrilled that she’ll be … at my side leading my national security team in my second term,” Obama said of Rice. “Susan understands that there’s no substitute for American leadership. She is at once passionate and pragmatic. I think everybody understands Susan is a fierce champion for justice and human dignity, but she’s also mindful that we have to exercise our power wisely and deliberately.”

Power, an anti-genocide activist and author who won a Pulitzer Prize for “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide,” will have to face a Senate confirmation process. Obama urged lawmakers to confirm her “without delay.”

Power, the president said, has “been a relentless advocate for American interests and values, building partnerships on behalf of democracy and human rights, fighting the scourge of anti-Semitism and combating human trafficking.”

The appointments of Rice and Power not only represent the ascension of women to top roles on Obama’s national security team, but the rise of two officials who have made human rights a priority — at a time when the U.S. faces an agonizing decisions over Syria where President Bashar al-Assad has killed tens of thousands of civilians.

People close to Obama said early Wednesday that they expected Republicans on the Hill to continue their anti-Rice drumbeat, though they have no authority to stop her nomination — the position is one of the few at the senior level that requires no Senate confirmation.

They also predicted that Power’s confirmation hearings would likely become a forum for criticism of Rice and Clinton — a battle Obama, who was embittered by the attacks against Rice to an extent unmatched by nearly any other episode in his fight-filled presidency, is eager to engage in.

Some conservatives, particularly on the House side, did respond quickly — and negatively — to the Rice pick.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), one of the administration’s harshest critics on the Benghazi attacks, tweeted: “Judgement is key to national security matters. That alone should disqualify Susan Rice from her appointment. #benghazi #BadChoice.”